Amaranth
by monstrous.crow
Summary: Some things last forever. One of those things is friendship. A series of short, introspective drabbles on each beta kid and what matters most.
1. The hart

_**(The hart, he loves the high wood)**_

* * *

John thought everyone he knew was a bit crazy. Not excluding himself, of course, because that would be just _rude._

But all of his friends had fascinations and irrational fixations.

Jade adventured and cultivated; she helped them grow and nurture like the (totally imaginary) profusion of pumpkins she kept. Rose learned and defended; she knew more and saw further, and she kept them somewhat out of trouble, which was in itself a miracle. And Dave...well...Dave was Dave. Dave fixated on _everything_. He liked to obsess over every element he deigned to allow into his life. And that was okay, because that was just how Dave was. It was only because he cared so much and he didn't know how to show it directly, so he showed it by making sure everything stayed the same, the way they liked and knew themselves and each other.

He knew they thought him a bit silly, just a little immature, but that was okay too.

_i love them all anyway, the dorks._

It didn't really matter what they thought as long as he could be there, somehow, some way.

They might've thought he was crazy over Nic Cage or his prankster escapades, and he was, to an extent. He really liked flying everywhere and annoying them to death with his awkward dork tendencies, because it made them smile, even if they didn't want to.

He was _really_ crazy about just making sure each and every one knew they were loved.

They were all his, his best friends, and he wanted them to know that he'd never let them go, even if it seemed crazy.

What is love but madness, truly?

* * *

**DISCLAIMER: **I don't own, so please don't sue. Um, I actually based the chapter titles off the lines of an old nursery rhyme; I'll probably include the full thing at the end.


	2. The hare

_**(The hare, she loves the hill)**_

* * *

Jade loved _everything._

It was incredibly hard for her to find fault with anything. She loved everything and everyone. She thought there was something to love in every person, no matter what, and perhaps that was true.

She knew her unfailing optimism seemed a bit odd to her friends, but they only loved her all the more for it, because through everything, she was always there with an open smile and something cute to say.

She was strong, though she didn't like to think of it that way; she knew she was an excellent fighter, just like every one of them, but she didn't think that was where her true strength lay.

No, she counted her faith in them as what mattered most.

She'd always had a very black-and-white view of morals and what really mattered, she knew; but it was just how she was, and she certainly wasn't about to apologize for it.

Just like during her blind jump into the game, she trusted them with her life, without exception or condition, and she'd gladly give her life for any and all of them without the slightest hesitation.

And that made her stronger than anything else she could think of.

* * *

**DISCLAIMER: **I don't own HS.


	3. The knight

_**(The knight, he loves his bright sword)**_

* * *

Dave Strider was a protector.

He prized his ability to defend what he cared for above all else, and damn the consequences.

So he'd laughed at the thought of being the Knight of Time, because...well, wasn't it ironic?

He was quite literally a knight eternal, an outdated, misplaced idea that couldn't survive and would never die, living through epochs and worlds foreign to its origin.

So he'd really hated the intangible distances and the game that separated him from his friends so long.

He was unable to defend a fortress that was simply _not there._

So he strode forward through everything (because that's what Striders _do_), cutting down anything that stood in his way with a shining sword that was as much his grim determination as it was his weapon, swathed in paper armour that never did all that much to conceal his heart—

—_but you cant blame me for trying can you—_

He was far from being anyone's Prince Charming, but that was okay.

He'd find them in the end, his friends that were his castle, and he'd defend them to the bitter end and beyond, because that was what he did.

* * *

**DISCLAIMER:** I don't own, sadly.


	4. The lady

_**(The lady loves her will)**_

* * *

Rose was smart.

It was basically her defining feature, or so she thought.

She was smart, and no one could deny it.

And she liked being smart.

Being intelligent simply meant that she was capable of retaining, processing, and _utilizing_ information in a way that was beneficial.

It was her contribution to the others.

She wasn't a poor fighter, no, but they weren't either. Still, she felt an overwhelming urge to just help, so she did, in the only way she knew how.

She guided them when they were blind or unsure, and steadied them when they stumbled.

She was the Seer, after all; she saw light where they saw dark hopelessness, and so she always pulled them through, because she couldn't bear to see that lost look in their eyes, that flat tone in their words.

They each reacted to hardship in different ways. Dave shut down. John freaked. Jade lashed out.

But Rose seized command of the situation and bent it to her will, because it was simply the best way to help.

So she made sure to stand out as much as she could and ran circles around the purportedly omniscient guy that always pestered her, because it was pretty much her way of making sure that they didn't have to deal with it.

They had so many problems already; she was their guiding light, their mother figure when they needed it and didn't know they needed it.

She was strong, because she shaped the world to her will in order to save them from themselves.

* * *

**DISCLAIMER:** I don't own. Here's the full rhyme, by the way.

_The hart, he loves the high wood,_

_The hare, she loves the hill,_

_The knight, he loves his bright sword,_

_The lady loves her will._


End file.
